Metallic can.



No. 663.4!5. Patented Dec. ll, I900.

V G.-W. CHARLES.

METALLIC CAN.

lication filed Apr. 10, 1899 Fries.

PATENT GEORGE W. CHARLES, OF KOKOMO, INDIANA.

METALLIC CAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 663,415, dated.December 11, 1900.

Application filed April 10, 1 89 9.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. CHARLES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kokomo, in the county of Howard and State of Indiana, haveinvented a new and useful Metallic Can, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to packing and storing vessels, and has specialreference to cylindrical metallip cans of the type that are usuallyemployed by canning establishments for sealing therein fruits,vegetables, and other food products which are commonly known in thetrade as canned goods.

The main and primary object of the present invention is to provide anovel construction of metallic can which shall preserve the generalshape and form of the ordinary cylindrical fruit and vegetable can,while at the same time providing a can structure having exceptionalstrength and requiring a minimum amount of material in the formationthereof.

A furtherobject of the invention is to construct the can with a novelarrangement of seam which positively prevents leakage and effectuallyexcludes the solder from working within the can While being. formed.

In the manufacture of the ordinary cylindrical fruit and vegetable cansthree separate and distinct metal blanks are requirednamely, the mainbody-blank, which is bent into cylindrical form, with the edges thereofmeeting in a longitudinal side seam extending the entire length of thebody, and separate circular blanks for the ends of the canbody. Thismethod of constructing the common tin can is the one usually resortedto, but provides for three dint-inct joints by reason of the lapping ofthe different blanks, and consequently involves a considerable waste ofmaterial and the employment of a large amount of solder. Furthermore;the plurality of seams not only require considerable time and labor forthe manipulation of the cans during the process of forming the same, butalso present a maximum area for leakage.

The present invention provides a construction of can that overcomes theobjectionable features of the ordinary method of manufacturing abovereferred to, while at the same Serial No. 712,439. \No model.)

time having the general shape and all of the characteristics of theordinary can, so as not to interfere with the proper labeling andfilling thereof.

With these and other objects in view, which will readily appear as thenature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in thenovel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinaftermore fully described, illustrated, and claimed.

\Vhile the fundamental combination of parts constituting the presentinvention is susceptible to modification without departing from thespirit or scope thereof, still the preferred embodiment of the inventionis shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is aperspective view of a fruitor vegetable can constructed in accordancewith the present invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view at one sideof the plane of the inwardly-projectinginterior lock-seam. Fig. 3 is anenlarged detail sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Figs. 4 and 5are details in perspective,respectively,of the separate sections orhalves of the can-body prior to the assembling thereof. Fig. 6 is a planview of one of the circular blanks from which each of the body-sectionsis formed.

Like numerals of reference designate like and corresponding parts in theseveral figures of the drawings.

In carryingoutthe invention the cylindrical can-body is constructed oftwo cylindrical interlocking sections 2 and 3, which bisect the bodytransversely thereof, and each of the sections or halves 2 and 3 isformed from a single circular blank X, cut in the proper size, so thatwhen the two sections or halves are struck up the same will he of equaldiameter, whereby the exterior surfaces of these sections will beperfectly flush, and thereby present a smooth exterior cylindricalsurface for the can-body throughout the entire area thereof, so that thelabeling may be applied thereto in the usual manner without interferencefrom projections of any sort,as may be plainly seen from the drawings.

The circular blanks X from which the sections or halves of thecylindrical can-body are stamped up may be cut out from sheet metal bymeans of any suitable machinery, and at this point it will be observedthat the circu lar blanks for the two sections of the canbody are exactduplicates, with the single exception of the blank for the upper section2 being provided with the usual central filling opening or hole i.

In the process of manufacturing the can, after the circular blanks forthe sections have been cut out by suitable machinery through the mediumof proper dies the blanks are stamped up and drawn into the proper formof the body-sections 2 and 3, so that these sections willevenly andaccurately register when assembled. In its complete struck-up form theupper cylindrical section or half 2 of the can-body is provided at itslower circumferential edge with an inturned seam-flange 5, while thelower section 3 of the can-body is formed atits upper edge with aninwardlybent shoulder-ofifset 6, having an upstanding lock-flange 7,adapted to be bent around and over the seam-flange 5, thereby producingan interior inwardly-projecting circumferential lock-seam which rigidlylocks the two sections of the body together, while at the same timeleaving a perfectly flush exterior joint.

The contiguous shoulders at the meeting edges of the body-sections 2 and3 closely abut, but necessarily form an exterior peripheralsolder-receiving crease 8, which is preferably filled with solder tomake a hermeticallysealed joint, and at this point it will be observedthat by reason of having the lock-seam within the interior of thecan-body it is impossible for the solder to work therethrough into thecan. Furthermore, the construction described positively prevents acidsfrom mixing with the contents of the can and only necessitates the useof a minimum amount of solder, whereas in the ordinary construction offruit and vegetable cans a plurality of seams have to be soldered.

Afurther advantage of the interior circumferential lock-seam for joiningthe meeting edges of the two sections together resides in the fact thatsuch seam forms a continuous double thickness of material around thecentral portion of the can-body, thus greatly reinforcing this part ofthe can, which in ordinary constructions is very weak.

It will be noted that the bead formed by the locking-flange 7 is locateddirectly opposite the point of engagement of the adjacent meetin g edgesof the can-sections and extends substantially equally at opposite sidesof the joint, thereby reinforcing the same at its weakest point.

Other advantages for the construction described will suggest themselvesto those skilled in the art, and it will also be understood that changesin the form, proportion, size, and the minor details of constructionwithin the scope of the appended claim may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit or sacrificing any of the ad vantages of thisinvention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent, is-- A metallic can consisting of upperand lower sections, each formed from a single blank of sheet material,the lower circumferential edge of the upper section being inturr'ied atan angle to form a seam-flange, and the lower section provided at itsupper edge with an inwardly-bent ofiset having an upstanding lockflangeadapted to be bent over the said seamflange of the upper section to forman interiorly-located circumferential lock-seam leaving an exteriorperipheral solder-receiving crease, thereby forming a can-body with anintermediate joint having an exterior portion flush with the outer wallof said body and without indenting or irregularly constructing theexterior of the body.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aifixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. CHARLES.

Witnesses:

J OHN H. SIGGERS, Y. PERRY HAHN.

